


Stuck With Me

by roosterteethrambles



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 07:24:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16868641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roosterteethrambles/pseuds/roosterteethrambles
Summary: Loosely based on a true story, you never expected your running routine to be won over by a stray dog and the man she's adopted.





	Stuck With Me

Here we go. First day of the new jogging regime. This’ll be good. You’ll jog for a while, then just walk it off for a bit, then jog again, and walk again. You won’t keep straining yourself. Sure, you’ll be out of the house for a little longer, but it’ll be better for you in the long run. Plus, a longer route will mean you get to see more of Austin! You’d been wanting to - especially since your new best friend had entered your life.

You do feel bad, though - first time on the new route and Pup had to sit back. You’d tried to get him to recognise so many other names, but he only ever responded to Pup. Taking him to the vet’s earlier in the day may have started with you arguing with a five-year-old about how Pup is  _ totally _ a legitimate name, but it ended with Pup stitched up and wearing a cone.

As you pull on your running shoes, he waddles up to you sadly, whimpering. You ruffle just between his ears, “I’m sorry, Pup. You gotta rest up for a couple of days.” The dog huffs almost indignantly and you raise your eyebrows at him, “Hey now, you want lots of little Pup Juniors running around Texas, huh? Handsome little thing like you would be leaving trails of PJs all over the shop!” Pup looks over to the side and whines, and you you laugh, tickling him under his chin. “It’s sad that I’m able to have an almost human conversation with you, isn’t it?” Pup licks your hand sympathetically and you chuckle again, “Yep, there it is. A signal I should definitely leave the house.” You press a kiss just between his eyes and jump up. “See you soon, Pupper! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

You saunter down to where you’d normally end your previous all-jogging route. Usually once you hit the Pfluger bridge you’d turn back, but today you start taking the punt and crossing. The beeping interrupting your music tells you that it’s time to pick up the pace again, so you take off once again. You marvel at the little sights you manage to spot all around downtown Austin, and this is only the first day. You’re relieved when you hear the next beep, not just because your muscles are tired but also so you get to soak in even more of the city.

You’re thinking about how much Pup’s gonna love these new sights and smells when you feel something against your knee. You look down and see a brown dog headbutting your legs and immediately melt down onto your knees to greet it. As the dog puts its paw on your shoulder, the sunlight that had been adorning you two is blocked. You look up to see a tall, scruffy-yet-groomed-looking man smiling down at the two of you. “She likes you!”

You stand to your feet, making the dog whine, so you keep stroking her just below her ear, causing her to pant happily. “Eh, I have a way with dogs. It makes up for my lack of people skills!” You kick yourself internally for ultimately embarrassing yourself in front of the cute boy. Good job, self!

Thankfully, for whatever reason, Cute Boy laughs. “Don’t suppose you have any room for her, do you?”

You shake your head, “Sorry. As adorable as she is, I’ve already got one of my own at home, and I barely have the time for him!”

Cute Boy’s brow furrows. “Why not bring him on your runs with you, then?”

You shrug, “I usually do, but he’s out of action for the next couple weeks. He’s uh, had the snip this morning.”

Cute Boy hisses through his teeth, squeezing his knees together in sympathy. “Ouch, sorry for him!”

“Yeah, but he agrees, it’s better than him exponentially increasing Austin’s dog population!” you nod and Cute Boy chuckles, to which you defend, “What?! He’s a very handsome boy!”

“Well, they do say dogs take after their owners,” he smirks, and you open and close your mouth wordlessly, blood rushing through your ears when he asks, “What’s that beeping?”

“Oops, that’s me! Gotta get going!” you shake yourself back into reality and run off, forgetting which direction you’d planned to actually jog down and solving that dilemma by just picking one and hoping for the best.

The next day, around the same place, you feel something brush against you. You look down and see the familiar big brown dog from yesterday. You look around but can’t see the Cute Boy anywhere. You fuss over her with a frown, hoping that she hadn’t been left to keep walking about the streets on her own again. You mutter to the dog, “It’s a shame you couldn’t hold on to that guy. I mean, following a guy home for him to invite you into his house overnight? You got game, girl!” you commend, and the dog’s tail waves excitedly.

A familiar voice lifts your spirits too, “Ellie! I’ve been looking for you!”

Looking over to the source of the voice, you point to yourself with a confused look. “Uhh…” you start, but he bends straight down to hug the dog. 

The sight warms your heart, and you almost manage to slip away and leave them to it before Cute Boy clears his throat, “Hey now, you’ve still got four more minutes of slow-time!”

You frown at him. “How did you know -”

“I Googled ‘jog-walk running techniques’,” he admits. “My endurance isn’t exactly the greatest at the moment, so I thought it might help me too.”

“Didn’t you just come out of a P. Terrys?!” you ask with a laugh.

“My impulse control isn’t all that great either,” he laughs back.

“I can tell, thought you were trying to get rid of  _ Ellie _ ,” you tease.

“Look, I’m not  _ getting rid _ of her, I want her to go to a good home,” he smiles down at the dog fondly, who nuzzles at his hand, prompting him to give her attention. He obliges with a chuckle, “and how could I not name her after my favourite video game character? She’s stuck with me against my will, can hold her own, and has a little boo-boo on one of her limbs,” he points out, and you beam.

“Little boo-boo? Sure, it’s  _ totally  _ against your will,” you smirk.

“Look, I really can’t look after her, I don’t have the time! Anyway, speaking of names, I don’t think I ever got yours,” he smiles to you.

“I never got yours either,” you shrug. “Unless you’re going the whole hog with this The Last of Us thing and your name is actually Joel.”

Cute Boy laughs again. Goddamn, that guy can find humour in everything. Not that you have any problem with that. You just want him to laugh forever. Your thoughts very almost drown out him saying something about having enough Joels at work and introduce himself as Miles. “So, what about you?” he asks.

You’re just about to answer when your phone beeps. You shrug, “Oops, guess you’d better find out tomorrow!”

You do end up telling him the next time you see him. You start learning little snippets about each others’ lives over the next ten five-minute snippets. He’s an animator. He bought Ellie a collar and leash because the zone he wanted to run in required it, but he’s definitely not keeping her. He lives in this area of Austin. Ellie now has a bed in his house, but he’s  _ definitely  _ not keeping her. Over the past three years he’s been making his own way into writing and directing. He’s introduced Ellie to his colleagues, but he’s  _ definitely not _ keeping her. He studied at college at the University of Texas. His parents and brother love Ellie, but he’s  _ definitely not keeping her _ . He’s apparently the newest participant in a show his workplace produces that recreates video game scenarios in real life. His phone background is a picture of Ellie sleeping on his chest, but **_he’s definitely not keeping her._ **

Soon enough, Pup’s ready to venture out into the wild. Maybe not all the way to downtown Austin just yet, but around your area. You plan to take it easy and just walk around with him for about ten minutes before heading back. He still wants to run alongside you, but every time he tries to pull against his collar, he whimpers in pain. You bend down to him, “I know, Pup, I’m sorry. But only a few more days and you’ll be doing that too! And you’ll get to meet Miles and Ellie too, an-”

“Is that my ears I feel burning?” Miles grins from just next to you, making you jump.

“What are you doing here?” you ask, greeting Ellie as she, like usual now, rams her head into your leg.

“What, like you’re the only one who knows how to cross a bridge?” Miles raises his eyebrows before feeling something press on his feet. He looks down, and so do you, to see Pup sitting on his toes. “You must be Y/N’s little guy!” Miles leans back, knowing that you’ve warned him your dog can get quite protective of you at times. “You never did tell me his name!”

“I have done! Lots! He’s Pup!” you prompt.

Miles scrunches his face as he looks between you and the dog perched on him. “I thought that was a nickname!”

“Nah, he doesn’t respond to anything else. Ain’t that right, Pup?” you ask loudly, but for the first time, Pup doesn’t respond to you calling him that. He’s still looking up at Miles, panting away happily, tail beating at his toes. “Oh my god,” you exclaim as your face falls.

“What, what is it?” Miles asks, worried.

“I’ve never seen him like this, but...He’s expecting affection from you. He already likes you enough to let you pet him,” you explain in awe.

Miles grins, “Aww, c’mere, little Pup!” and drops Ellie’s lead to tickle him under the chin while stroking just the top of his head. You take that time to let Pup go to properly greet Ellie with a belly rub, grinning at the sight in front of you.

“So, nearly two weeks now and Ellie’s still hanging around. Guess she really is stuck with you, huh,” you smirk over at Miles.

He looks down at Pup, who jumps back off Miles’ feet and sits just to the side of you, with Ellie sat opposite. “By that definition, though, so are you,” he mirrors you, stepping closer to you. You bite your lip in excitement as Miles beams down to you when both dogs let out a noise of exclamation. Miles side-eyes Ellie before grinning, “Not sure if Pup meant the same thing, but I’m pretty sure Ellie just shouted something along the lines of ‘You guys should kiss already!’”

You giggle, “Pup’s a little more abrupt, that was just a short and simple ‘Just make out!’”

Miles laughs loudly. “I like the way he thinks.”

“As do I,” you beam, leaning up and wrapping your arms around his neck to pull him down into a drawn-out kiss. You feel two tails patting at your legs and grin against Miles’ lips. He mirrors you before breaking apart completely to take a long, deep breath out. 

Miles’ phone beeps and he stops it, shrugging. “I can have one day off! So, did you and Pup maybe wanna come out to the park with us?”

You suck the air in through your teeth. “Gee, any other time and we’d love to, but where he’s only just recently ben recovering from surgery, I don’t wanna aggravate his wounds too much.” Miles nods in understanding, but you offer with a small smile, “But we were just gonna head back and play some Metal Gear Solid so you’re more than welcome to hang out at ours!”

Miles beams, “We’d love that, wouldn’t we, Ellie?” The dog barks excitedly and you laugh. 

As you and Miles walk back hand-in-hand, you leading Ellie and him being led by Pup, you look over and giggle, “By the way, understanding what Ellie was saying? She’s totally your dog through and through.”

“Maybe, or maybe I was just projecting my own thoughts onto her to try and convince you to kiss me,” he raises his eyebrows at you.

“Or maybe you were both in agreement that you wanted me to kiss you, thus cementing the fact that she is your dog,” you emphasise the last few words and Miles sighs in resignation.

“Yep. She’s mine now,” he nods with a squeeze of your hand.


End file.
